BSA 104 (Scriptwriting) Week 1 : Whiplash meets Review Structure
After class in which we discussed Star Wars, I mentioned that I would have chosen a more recent film to discuss, that way everyone could actually remember what their first impressions of the film was and how they felt watching it. Of course finding a movie like this that everyone has actually seen would have been a challenge - the only one that comes to mind is Avatar (2009).
I mentioned Whiplash would have been a perfect choice and I discussed it with some other students. Might as well go through it here as a practice of the Review Structure we learned in class.
1. Provide a 2-3 sentence overview of the plot. (No spoilers!)
Ambitious young Jazz drummer Andrew lands a role in the class of the ruthless Jazz tutor Terrence Fletcher. Fletcher pushes the young drummer to the brink of his ability and sanity, changing his life forever.
2. What was your overall emotional response to the film? Why?
The emotional response that the director wanted us to feel was anger at the Fletcher character, and we do so. We go through the same emotional beats as the main character, resulting in one of the best emotional experiences with a movie I've had recently when at the end of the movie Andrew stands up his old tutor and plays an amazing drum solo.
Chazelle is very good at making the audience experience the same emotions as his characters, this is also seen in his later work - La La Land.
3. What did you think of the lead character and why? Was there a particular incident in the film or thing that they did that made you feel this way?
The reason we root for Andrew is because of how he is introduced. One part of our fondness for him is that we understand his desire to be great as many young people feel, his ambition is familiar to us and when we see him working hard to achieve his dreams we root for him. The other half is that Chazelle immediately makes Fletcher a threat, which puts us in Andrew's shoes as we've all been in that situation where we want to prove ourselves to a demanding senior. This is all done in the first five minutes of the film, and serves as a good representation of the rest of the movie.
4. Who was your favourite character (if not the lead) and why? Was there a particular incident in the film or thing that they did that made you feel this way?
This is a hard one because Whiplash only really has two characters - it's a very simple film - and one of those is the antagonist. I'm sure there are people who like Fletcher more than Andrew - he has some pretty good lines and his motivation is understandable, but I'm sure most people cling to Andrew for the reasons mentioned above.
5. Were there any moments that engaged you the most, and why?
In general the film is very engaging throughout, because Andrew is always trying to prove himself. The situations he's put in makes them automatically intense and relatable. The band practice scenes, the car scene and the final scene are all incredibly exciting and engaging because we want to see the character succeed and things just keep going wrong.
6. Were there any moments in which you started to lose interest or disengaged from the film? Why do you think this was the case?
Some moments might seem unengaging, especially on repeat viewings, when compared to the really tense scenes. They are good and serve a purpose in communicating the overall message, but especially the break that Andrew has from drumming wherein he tries to reconnect with his ex can be seen as uninteresting. But then we have the Fletcher in the bar scene which is also very interesting without being tense, so really, not anything unengaging.
I mentioned Whiplash would have been a perfect choice and I discussed it with some other students. Might as well go through it here as a practice of the Review Structure we learned in class.
1. Provide a 2-3 sentence overview of the plot. (No spoilers!)
Ambitious young Jazz drummer Andrew lands a role in the class of the ruthless Jazz tutor Terrence Fletcher. Fletcher pushes the young drummer to the brink of his ability and sanity, changing his life forever.
2. What was your overall emotional response to the film? Why?
The emotional response that the director wanted us to feel was anger at the Fletcher character, and we do so. We go through the same emotional beats as the main character, resulting in one of the best emotional experiences with a movie I've had recently when at the end of the movie Andrew stands up his old tutor and plays an amazing drum solo.
Chazelle is very good at making the audience experience the same emotions as his characters, this is also seen in his later work - La La Land.
3. What did you think of the lead character and why? Was there a particular incident in the film or thing that they did that made you feel this way?
The reason we root for Andrew is because of how he is introduced. One part of our fondness for him is that we understand his desire to be great as many young people feel, his ambition is familiar to us and when we see him working hard to achieve his dreams we root for him. The other half is that Chazelle immediately makes Fletcher a threat, which puts us in Andrew's shoes as we've all been in that situation where we want to prove ourselves to a demanding senior. This is all done in the first five minutes of the film, and serves as a good representation of the rest of the movie.
4. Who was your favourite character (if not the lead) and why? Was there a particular incident in the film or thing that they did that made you feel this way?
This is a hard one because Whiplash only really has two characters - it's a very simple film - and one of those is the antagonist. I'm sure there are people who like Fletcher more than Andrew - he has some pretty good lines and his motivation is understandable, but I'm sure most people cling to Andrew for the reasons mentioned above.
5. Were there any moments that engaged you the most, and why?
In general the film is very engaging throughout, because Andrew is always trying to prove himself. The situations he's put in makes them automatically intense and relatable. The band practice scenes, the car scene and the final scene are all incredibly exciting and engaging because we want to see the character succeed and things just keep going wrong.
6. Were there any moments in which you started to lose interest or disengaged from the film? Why do you think this was the case?
Some moments might seem unengaging, especially on repeat viewings, when compared to the really tense scenes. They are good and serve a purpose in communicating the overall message, but especially the break that Andrew has from drumming wherein he tries to reconnect with his ex can be seen as uninteresting. But then we have the Fletcher in the bar scene which is also very interesting without being tense, so really, not anything unengaging.
Great - thanks, Bo!
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